Wilmington puts brakes on old Wave Transit garage sale

By Hunter Ingram StarNews Staff

Thursday

Nov 8, 2018 at 1:57 PMNov 8, 2018 at 3:45 PM

Delay comes as local preservation group expresses interest in making a play for the Castle Street property

WILMINGTON – The desolate old Wave Transit property on Castle Street will remain quiet through the new year after the Wilmington City Council delayed a decision on whether to sell the property to 2019.

At Wednesday’s city council meeting, the board -- minus Mayor Bill Saffo and Councilman Clifford Barnett, who are out of town on city business -- unanimously voted to continue the decision to the Jan. 22, 2019, meeting. Councilman Paul Lawler pulled the item from the board’s consent agenda, noting that the Historic Wilmington Foundation has expressed interest in the property and would like to bring a presentation to council at that meeting.

The dilapidated property at 1110 Castle St. has sat dormant since June 2015 when Wave Transit vacated the property it had been using as a bus yard and maintenance garage to move to a new facility on Castle Hayne Road near Martin Luther King Jr. Parway.

With knowledge Wave would be moving out, the city passed a resolution in 2007 stating its intention to give the property to Wilmington Southside Community Development Corp. as a way to make sure the surrounding community benefited from the likely development of the site. That was pursuant on the group’s president Lewis Hines presenting long-discussed plans for a mixed-use development called The Castle that were said to have included a job growth and business incubator building, a cultural arts center, and event and office spaces.

But those plans never came together and the council voted in August to explore a possible sale.

The idea of simply putting the property on the market, however, was met with hesitation at Monday’s agenda review meeting, where Mayor Pro Tem Margaret Haynes cautioned the board to fully consider what selling the site would mean.

“I just want to make sure that we understand that if we just sell it to the highest bidder we are losing any kind of control of making sure there is at least some percentage of that property that is used in service and support of that community,” she said.

During that discussion, multiple council members also questioned if the money earned from the sale could be set aside and funneled back into the site if the buyer chooses to develop community-focused elements.

Beth Rutledge, executive director of the Historic Wilmington Foundation, said it is still premature to talk specifics about what the organization is eyeing for the property.

"Right now, it is fairly early to be talking about that," she said Thursday. "We are exploring options. We are definitely interested in the Castle Street property and have been for a while. We want to help activate that corridor."

Rutledge said she asked council to push back the item to give the group time to explore all their options and bring forth a plan conducive to the site and surrounding community.

According to New Hanover County tax records, the old garage site is 1.5 acres and is valued -- including the buildings -- at $448,200.

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.